Wine Filters

Hey wine making friends...its been awhile. I am coming at my year ear-mark since I started this wine making adventure. The hobby is definitely not going away. I think its time to invest in a wine filter. I need some advice about what set-up to use?? I have noticed that even after clearing when/if I bottle I still get some floaties that usually settle at the bottom but I want to get rid of this problem. Thanks!

1ST, Wine must be clear before filtering.

I love the Boun Vino Mini-Jet

+1 to what Tom said

I'll second the Buen Vino Mini Jet. I have that and also recent started using a whole house filter set up after I purchased my vacuum pum from Wade.

Okay thanks. I always let my wine clear however it seems no matter how long it sits before bottling or how clear it looks I get sediment.
I had a recent batch of Skeeter Pee that had floaties and would settle. It was no biggie and still was a great drinker but looked a little off-putting when I gave it away.
I was hoping for a less expensive option but it sounds like it will be a good investment.
I have read here about the aspirators is that for degassing? Or do you rig it to filter or just as a pump. I am interested in this set up as well. I am pretty handy but want something simple too!

+1 for the whole house filter plus vacuum pump!

I have to tell you, I have a whole house filter and they do a great job however those (floaties) will still show up even if you filter, I have seen it first hand. Something is not right here. A filter will take your wine from clear to polish.

rob said:

I have to tell you, I have a whole house filter and they do a great job however those (floaties) will still show up even if you filter, I have seen it first hand. Something is not right here. A filter will take your wine from clear to polish.

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Well I know that even commercial wines have some sediment. I just tell people to let it sit for awhile. I think from looking more into the vacuum pumps that the set up is way to technical for me....I like the idea of a package deal with easy user set up and use.

The advantage the vacuum pump and whole house filter have over the buen mini jet is that you can also use the pump to rack your wine even up hill. You will never have to lift a full carboy again to siphon rack it. It's a beautiful thing once you use it a couple times. You can likely get a pump and filter set up for a few dollars more than a Buen Mini Jet if you look around.

I do not get the floaters in my bottles. The first thing you must do is completely degas. I then use super kleere. this may be the answer as it attaches to particles and then collects and compacts on the bottom. Then rack to a clean carboy. Then I filter as I bottle.

Is all this necessary? Heck no. What you have is fine for at home. But if your gifting it, donating for a fund raiser or entering into a competition then yes it is necessary as it carries your reputation as a winemaker.

The person in charge of the wine competition I entered today gave me a bottle of honey wine. The first thing I noticed with floaters in it.

The Buon Vino Mini Jet is ~$190 with some pads. You can get the Whole House filter for ~$40 and the filters are ~$1.50ea and can used and reused many times over with proper storage. A vacuum pump (used) can be had for less than $100 shipped usually.

Its a bit of a Rube Goldberg apparatus to put together but it works great and like you say can also be used to rack.

ffemt128 said:

You can likely get a pump and filter set up for a few dollars more than a Buen Mini Jet if you look around.

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Rube Goldberg aka "Wade".

I dont get floaties with filtering but if you are making heavy reds you can get some color drop out over time and this is very hard to not get unless you use stuff specifically designed for this which Scott labs sells. If you are getting this with other wines then you may be using inferior filters. There are filters which are designed to not give off any filter particles. A standard whole house twine filter will give off particles and thats why I didnt sell that kind!

Its not quite as compact as the Buon Vino but it also does more!

Flem said:

Rube Goldberg aka "Wade".

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I use my mini-jet to filter and bottle at the same time.

With the filter pads I usuually filter 10 gallons, rinse and freeze them. Allows me to filter 10 more gallons.

Haven't tried a 2nd freezing.

Works good.

There are other types of filters available as well - I have used a plate filter for about 12 years now and it has served me well ( Europa brand) and is much cheaper than the Buon Vino. There is also a gravity filter that is inexpensive. The Buon Vinos are undoubtedly good but may not be in everyone's budget.

If you ave some money to spend then the Enolmatic is also a great tool which yoi can bottle with also and even sterile filter wine.

Here is my vacuum set up. The filter is mounted under the counter top and the filler is mounted on the counter top. Below that is a pic of a wine being racked using the vacuum pump.

filtering

HOW TO THINK CLEAR



I THINK THAT THE AVARAGE CELLAR DWELLAR ,CAN USE ALL THE ABOVE METHODS,YOUR ALRIGHT IN YOUR THINKING,FOR ME LIKE WOLFMAN STATED ITS WHAT IF YOUR SENDING IT AWAY ,OR OTHERS HAVE STATED IF YOU DON'T MIND THAN ITS NOT NECESSARY.

FOR ME I ALWAYS TRY TO RACK AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND FILTER THROUGH MY MINI PUMP,FOR EVERY BOTTLE GOING OUT NO MATTER WERE, REPRESENTS ME AND MY SKILLS,THATS WHAT I TRY TO KEEP THAT MIND,FLOATERS ARE A SIGN THAT SOMETHING ISN'T DONE RIGHT OR NOT ENOUGH CARE WASN'T TAKEN IN THE FINAL PROCESS,ITS ALL A MATTER OF FINE TUNNING.

HOW EVER I HAVE DONE ALL THESE THINGS AND STILL HAVE FINE SEDIMENT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE A MONTH DOWN THE ROAD.GO FIGURE

filterring

I went back and saw the pictures ,now I get it ,when you were talking about a whole house filter.. youment a real whole house water filter.

Question- is that food safe if so I really would like to try that ,,very cool..